Facebook Faces Class Action Suit Over Beacon Ad System

Facebook drew the ire of many of its users -- and the media -- with its ad platform Beacon, which publicized its users' shopping habits without asking their permission. Now it has another Beacon nuisance: A class action lawsuit, IDG reports.

The suit, which was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Northern California, says that Facebook and some of its ad partners – including Blockbuster, Fandango, and Overstock – violated users' privacy by collecting and using private data without asking for permission. And even though Facebook users could choose to disable parts of the tracking/advertising system, the suit alleges that it was cumbersome to do so.

Facebook introduced Beacon last November, but less than a month later, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to users, offered them a way to turn the program off entirely, and reworked Beacon so that Facebook users would have to choose to turn it on manually.

Facebook Faces Class Action Suit Over Beacon Ad System

The suit says Facebook and its advertising partners like Blockbuster, Overstock, and Fandango violated users' privacy by collecting and using private data for Facebook's ad system without asking for permission.